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“These Twelve Jesus Sent Out with the Following Orders”
1 And calling his twelve disciples to himself, Jesus+ granted them authority over unclean spirits, to drive them out, and to heal every kind of disease and sickness.
2 Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: First, Simon (also called Peter), and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother;
3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus;
4 Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, the man who later betrayed him.
5 These twelve Jesus sent out with the following orders:+ “Don’t enter the Gentile regions,+ and don’t enter any Samaritan town.
6 Go, rather, to the lost sheep of the nation+ of Israel.
7 Now as ᵖyou go from place to place, keep proclaiming this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is drawing near!’
8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons. ᵖYou have received free of charge, and so free of charge you are to give.
9 Don’t obtain for yourselves any gold coins, or silver coins, or copper coins for the fold in your belts;+
10 don’t get a traveler’s bag for the road, or an extra inner garment,+ or sandals, or a staff, because a worker is of his keep certainly deserving.+
11 Instead, whatever town or village ᵖyou enter, ask around to find out whose doors in that place are always open to travelers,+ and in that same house+ remain until you leave.
12 “Now as you are entering the home,+ greet it,
13 and if the home is welcoming and hospitable,+ let ᵖyour blessing of peace come upon it.+ If they shut the door in your faces,+ however, let your blessing of peace return to you.
14 And if anyone refuses to welcome ᵖyou or listen to your message,+ as you are leaving that home or town, shake its dust off your feet.
15 Amen, I solemnly tell ᵖyou this: It will be truly more bearable even for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that town.
“I Am Sending You Out Like Sheep in the Midst of Wolves”
16 “Take note! I am sending ᵖyou out like sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore, be as cautious+ as snakes and as innocent as doves.
17 “Watch out for men, because people+ will hand ᵖyou over to the local sanhedrins and have you flogged in their synagogues.+
18 ᵖYou will be brought for my sake even before governors and kings, as a witness before them and before the Gentiles.+
19 When ᵖyou are handed over to be put on trial, however, don’t worry about how to speak or what you should say,+ because you will be given at that time+ the words you need.++
20 It is not ᵖyou who will be doing the speaking, you see, but the Spirit of your Father, who will be speaking through you.+
21 Now, a brother will hand his brother over to be put to death, as will a father his child, and children will turn against their parents and have them put to death,
22 and ᵖyou will be hated by everyone because of my name. He who endures to the finish, however, will be saved.+
23 “Now when people begin persecuting ᵖyou in one town, flee to another. Amen, I solemnly tell ᵖyou this: You will certainly not finish going through all the towns of Israel until the Son of Man comes.+
24 A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master.
25 That he should turn out like his teacher is sufficient for a disciple, and a slave like his master. If they have called even the master of the household ‘Beelzebul,’ how much more surely will they speak evil of the members of his household?
26 “In light of these things, don’t fear them, for there is nothing hidden that will not be brought out into the open, or secret that will not be made known.
27 What I tell ᵖyou when we’re by ourselves,+ declare out in the open, and what ᵖyou listen to in private, proclaim publicly from the rooftops.+
28 And don’t fear those who can kill the body but are powerless to kill the soul. Fear,+ rather, the one who has power to consign to utter ruin in Hinnom Valley+ both soul and body.
29 Two sparrows are sold for a mere penny,+ aren’t they? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without the knowledge and consent of your Father.
30 As for ᵖyou, even the hairs on your head have been counted, every last one of them.
31 So don’t be afraid. ᵖYou are worth more than many, many sparrows.
32 “All this in mind, if a person openly acknowledges his allegiance to me in the presence of men, I likewise will openly acknowledge him as my own in the presence of my Father in the heavens.
33 If someone disowns me in the presence of men, however, I also will disown him in the presence of my Father in the heavens.+
34 Don’t think that I am here to bring peace to the land! It isn’t peace that I’m here to bring, but a sword.+
35 I am here, you see, to turn
“ ‘a man against his father,
and a daughter against her mother,
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
36 a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’+
37 If someone’s loyalty+ to father or mother is greater than his loyalty to me, he is not worthy of me. A person is not worthy of me, likewise, if his loyalty to son or daughter is greater than his loyalty to me.
38 Unworthy of me, too, is he who refuses to take up his cross and continue on with me as a disciple.+
39 He who tries to gain his life will lose it,+ but he who loses his life because of me will gain it.+
40 If someone welcomes ᵖyou, it is me whom he is actually welcoming. And if someone welcomes me, he is actually welcoming the one who sent me.
41 If someone welcomes a prophet+ as a prophet,+ it is a prophet’s reward.+ that he will receive. A And if someone welcomes a righteous man as a righteous man,+ it is a righteous man’s reward that he will receive.
42 And if anyone gives one of these humble folk+ a simple cup of cold water to drink because he is my disciple,+ amen, I solemnly tell ᵖyou this: He will certainly not lose his reward.”